Aloisio's walk-off single lifts Clarke

Mike Aloisio singled to centerfield to drive in Chris Appell from second base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Clarke a 4-3 walk-off win over Island Trees in a Nassau Conference A-VI crossover game Thursday in Westbury.

Appell singled before winning pitcher John Jarosz walked and Aloisio's hit kept the top-ranked Rams undefeated (9-0). "I was looking for a good pitch to hit," Aloisio said. "We put the ball in play and good things happen."

The Rams battled back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits.

"It's about resilience and knowing how to win these tough games," coach Tom Abruscato said. "We're getting production throughout the lineup, and we're getting excellent relief pitching."

Island Trees, which left 14 on base, is 5-4. Clarke edged Island Trees, 2-1, last week in a game shortened to five innings by rain and darkness.

Island Trees forged a 2-0 lead in the third. After Chris Cutrone singled with one out, Ryan McDonald walked. Dom Raucci drilled a single to right to score Cutrone, and cleanup hitter Mike Manganiello lined a single to center to bring in McDonald.

"We left too many on base again," Island Trees coach Joe D'Auria said. "In the five-inning game we left 11 guys on base. We're searching for some guys to get those big hits. And we will, it'll come."

SEE PHOTOSClarke 4, Island Trees 3

The Bulldogs could have blown it open in the third, when they loaded the bases with one out before Tim Ingram got a strikeout and a flyout.

Clarke answered with a run in the bottom of the third, when Bulldogs starter Mike Jeannetti walked John Fogarty and Justin Ragusa to start the inning. The runners moved up on a wild pitch and Fogarty scored on Appell's sacrifice fly to left.

Island Trees had another scoring opportunity in the fourth. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out before Kevin Mackey got Raucci to hit into a 6-4-3 double play.

The Bulldogs had some defensive magic of their own in the fourth. Manganiello, at third base, made a diving stop of a hard grounder and fired to first to erase Mackey for the second out. Mark Cvitan followed with a two-out double, but Jeannetti struck out Joe Fusco.

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Clarke tied the score in the fifth. Fogarty doubled into the left-centerfield gap and scored on Appell's two-out line drive to center to tie it at 2.

Island Trees took the lead in the sixth when Kyle Nigro, who had three hits, scored on an error for a 3-2 lead. That advantage was short-lived when Clarke's Joe Fusco lined a 2-and-2 fastball down the leftfield line to drive in Aloisio and tie the score at 3.

"It was a real good win," Aloisio said.